Library Card
by MissyBlack31
Summary: Leah first runs into Austin at Forks Library. The second run in proves to be life altering as Leah must decide whether or not to let a human die at the hands of a rogue vampire or expose the secret of her people. (Originally written for our RP characters Gabrielle and Rob Sawyer for the RPCC contest; won BEST HUMAN AWARD)


**Library Card**

**by MissyBlack31 and Lilentorio**

**Rated: T **

**Summary: Leah first runs into Austin at Forks Library. The second run in proves to be life altering as Leah must decide whether or not to let a human die at the hands of a rogue vampire or expose the secret of her people. (Originally written for our RP characters Gabrielle and Rob Sawyer for the RPCC contest, but changed to more recognizable characters by mutual agreement for publishing.)**

**Enjoy!**

**LPOV:**

I loved this dusty place. The floor to ceiling shelves, the smell of printed paper and musty old tomes. The avocado green linoleum and low hum of outdated computers. It was a welcome reprieve from my normal, everyday life … which for me was chasing vampires and transforming into a giant wolf.

I enjoyed relaxing in the back at one of the long laminate tables, a large hardcover novel standing in front of me to hide my face, as I sat and observed the people of Forks.

Many different walks of life entered here. There were students who came in to play on the computers, occasionally flitting through the nonfiction sections for additional materials to write their reports. There were the older men who came in to check out the latest mysteries while their elderly wives searched out the latest Danielle Steel or some other romance. Then there were your avid readers, who came in weekly to pester the librarian about the latest in their favorite series.

I feel like a fly on the wall here. No one pays attention to me. No one bothers to talk to me. No one gives me a second glance. I'm able to just breathe in peace, a rare occurrence for me.

Today, I was going to actually check out a book. I'd applied for the library card months ago. It sat in my wallet, unused and untouched, still as pristine as when the librarian handed it to me. I didn't want to bend it or ruin it and normally there wasn't really much that interested me enough to read about it anyways.

Today was different. Today I needed to check out books on baking. I'd recently been hired at Kim's bakery and I loved the shop. It was so homey and inviting, and it always smelled wonderful. My mouth watered just thinking about it.

I wanted to keep my job and I needed to show Kim that I could pull my own weight, which was considerable as a wolf, so I was going to have to relent and use my previously unblemished card. I ended up finding four books that I thought could help, their pages full of easy to follow instructions and full color pictures. I took my books to the counter and proudly made my first withdrawal.

As I turned to leave, my nose deep in my book, I collided with the hard body of another visitor to the library, causing my books to fall and me to nearly hit the floor with them.

I looked up with a scowl. It looked like my perfect day was just ruined.

**APOV**

My glasses were somewhere on the floor. I knew that much, and I could just about see the details of a scowl on the face of who I'd just bumped into. For a second I just stared at her, trying to…figure out... No, I didn't know her. She had the bronzed skin of La Push origin. The scowl took over her whole face, animating it, eyes flashing fire.

My glasses were somewhere on the floor and I didn't want to move in case I stepped on them. Going to the library was usually a good experience for me. I frequented here so often my library card was battered, used and worn at the edges. It even had bite marks from when my pet had found it lying on my bed, scratch marks from being in the same pocket as my keys.

Going to the library was usually good. The calm, the quiet, time to relax, not having to try to understand the people I met...I'd never been that good at connecting with people. It gave solace.

This time, though, it seemed to be going downhill fast.

"Sorry," I muttered, bending down slowly. My hair brushed the side of her leg, hands tapping the floor around them. Shit! "Sorry, careful where you step..."

My fingers brushed some books on the floor, and I picked them up. _Baking With Kelly!_ and _Baker's Delight_. I looked up, straightened slowly. She was my height. Rare, in a girl. Our eyes met for a second, and I broke the gaze first. I held the book out. "You dropped this." I tried to pick up some of the charm I had learned in high school. I had dropped out of high school, though, in the middle of my senior year. Left behind a football scholarship. Left everyone. "I haven't seen you around here before." And...slow smile. Hold it... I leant back, smirking casually.

And almost trod on my glasses.

I felt the lump under my foot and jumped back, bending down and picking them up.

I had made enough of a fool of himself. I dropped the smile for pride's sake and decided the time was nigh to try and make a quick exit without screwing up.

"Hi. I'm Austin." The words were out before I planned them.

**LPOV:**

I narrowed my eyes and looked _Rob _over carefully. "Well, Austin, you should watch where you're going." I answered his greeting as he fuddled with his glasses. "Or perhaps get a seeing eye dog."

I snorted at my own statement. The Cullen vampires often called the our pack 'dogs.' It was only one of the many things that irritated me about them.

The awkward human in front of me was nearly as irritating.

_And kind of cute ..._

I snarled at myself for that wayward thought and the human before me took a step back.

_Good. You should be afraid. I'm a monster too._

He muttered some sort of apology as I shoved past him and made my way toward the exit, his astonished eyes staring at my back as I quickly ran out the door.

"Wait!" he called after me.

It seemed he was not nearly as intelligent as he appeared.

_Why else would he follow me?_

I turned to see the book he was holding. Even from across the street, I could tell it was one of mine. _Baking 101. _

_The recipe book that had all the beautiful photographs ... Dammit. I needed that book._

I sighed and started to walk back across the street, towards the unsuspecting human and my book, doing my best to keep my face emotionless. People didn't get close to me. I really didn't need this aggravation ...

... and he seemed kind of sweet. He didn't need to get involved with someone like me.

As soon as I was close enough, I grabbed the book from his hands, mumbled thanks, and ran as fast as my legs could carry me.

**APOV**

As soon as she was close enough, I held the book out. Her eyes flickered when she grabbed it, mumbling a thank you that was so run together that I could barely make it out. For a second, our eyes met, and it was like two brick walls trying not to see each other. I was used to blocking people off, but having it done right back to me...

I turned my back the same time as she did and went back into the library.

Walking home was tricky. There were five minutes off the beaten track that took me straight through Forks forest. The house was old. My grandpa had bought it when he married my grandma, and I'd lived there with them since I was five. It had been mine alone for ten years, now, though.

The trek was good for exercise, but today...

There was something wrong. I could feel it on the back of my neck, prickling. _Stomp, stomp_. My footsteps always fell like that.

_Stomp._

_(Step.)_

_Stomp._

_(Step.)_

I had a shadow. I stopped, bent down, picked up a-

something whirled past me, so fast, knocked me sideways. I crashed into a tree, bark breaking skin. My brain tried to realise what had just happened, but it came too slowly, it was-

A shape had gone into me, a white- panther? White bear? I had only seen a flash. If it was a bear... I got up fast, stumbling, and looked around quickly. All I could see was the leafy foliage, the track that had been beaten into the ground by my family over years and years.

No sign. I brought my hand to my face, feeling the blood on my jaw. It stung. Sharp. Real.

I took a step forward. _Sssshhhhaaaaa_... It was like the forest was exhaling, and again, a streak of motion and I was knocked to the forest floor. I could hear a high-pitched laugh, like a bell, and I scrambled to my feet, spinning around, trying to see _what the hell _it was.

"Hello?" I called out.

The birds. That's what was wrong. The birds weren't singing, and it was evening. A chill ran down my neck, because it wasn't just the birds.

Everything was as quiet as a grave, and as the shadows lengthened, I bent down and slowly picked up a stick the length of my forearm. My own action sounded loud to me.

My heartbeat sounded loud, and I almost thought that if someone had been close by, they would have been able to hear it.

Another step, and the whirl was right there, grabbing me by the shoulders, flinging me back into the ground so hard I heard something crack.

**LPOV:**

This was just not my day. The book that I'd dropped was now full of dirt. Some pages were bent and the cover had a slight tear. I just knew I would end up with a fine. I just knew it.

That was if I didn't have to replace the book altogether!

I shook my head and kept walking in the direction of the woods. There was no helping it and no use crying over spilled milk, as they say, so I tried to put it out of my mind. I hadn't made it very far when I was hit with a very familiar scent.

_You have got to be kidding me!_

We were nowhere near our territory. I was still walking through the forest of Forks, Cullen territory, and therefore the sickly sweet smell of a bloodsucker was really no business of mine. I knew my orders. Forks was a veritable stomping ground for leeches these days. I was no to go near them unless they crossed our borders. I knew my ordes bu that didn't mean it didn't raise my hackles.

_Damn vampires._

I snarled but kept walking. I'd swiped a grocery sack that someone had thrown in the trash near the courthouse and my books hung loosely from my shoulder as I made my way to my home. The smell was getting stronger. Soon I would have to change direction if I didn't want to run into a the leech head on.

_Not that I wouldn't love to tear apart a vampire ... might help with all this pent-up frustration._

But if I did that, I'd have to answer to Sam, and I really rather not have a dressing down from my ex if I can help it. So, I kept my nose to the ground and kept walking until the scent was so strong, my eyes began to water and my body was shaking with the need to phase and destroy.

I would have turn now.

_Damn them to hell!_

I turned on my heel and that's when I heard it. It was soft, like a frightened whisper on the wind, but it was there. It was a voice calling for help. If I wasn't mistaken, it was a voice I'd heard not even an hour before. The boy with the books.

_This day just kept getting better and better!_

I looked around for the voice and spotted him, lying by a tree. He was conscious but his head was bleeding. He appeared to be alone. I had a hard time believing a vampire toss him against the trunk and then leave him lying there, bleeding everywhere, but it appeared to be what had happened.

Very strange.

I quickly ran over. His eyes were open but glazed over. I knew he'd be going under soon. I needed to get the bleeding to stop. Without a second thought, I ripped my shirt off and placed it against his wound, trying like hell to staunch the blood flow. I tore off the sleeve of his shirt and tied the dressing to his head. The bleeding had been slowed but he'd need to see a doctor.

Suddenly his eyes went wide and he raised a hand.

"It's okay. I'm going to get you help. Just stay still, alright?"

He shook his head and pointed behind me. I turned from him and saw what had him riled. Standing about twenty feet behind me was the vamp himself. I quickly stood and phased without a second thought, praying to God that the boy had fainted or was too far gone with shock to realize that a giant gray wolf now stood between him and certain death.

It looked like I was going to get to kill a leech after all.

**APOV**

_Wolf._

My head...I was seeing a wolf.

_Was I dreaming?_

Everything felt fuzzy, and the pain was slowly draining away onto the forest floor.

Crashes rang in my ears, and the world was swirling ahead.

"Hey..." I sat up, but my head spun. And through another fuzzy whirl of motion, that was furry and ridged with muscle, I sat down, and the world turned into nothing.

I woke up with leaves in my hair and a dull throbbing pain that covered every part of me.

I sat up, and a dizzy lurch found me on my hands and knees, coughing, throwing up, retching until my breathing worked again.

I turned my head. There was a girl beside me.

She was covered in blood, lying on her stomach, a mound of ash beside her. As I watched, the wind shifted, slowly sprinkling the dust through the air, until I couldn't see it anymore.

I slowly, carefully leant over the girl.

"Hey?"

_Please don't be dead._

I turned her over and felt myself gasp when I saw the rips in her stomach. Her face.

_Library girl. No. No, no, no._

I coughed, tasted blood, put my hand over the pulse in her neck and almost shuddered in relief.

_Alive. Thank God, she's alive._

_But for how much longer?_

_Why was she naked?_

My stomach churned, and I took out my cell phone. No signal. NO SIGNAL- WHAT THE HELL DO I DO WHEN THERE'S _NO SIGNAL!_

The birds were chirping again to signal morning, but that was no comfort, not when something I couldn't even call the police-

I'd have to carry her. I pulled off my shirt, and awkwardly pulled her up to rest against me. It was hard to tug my shirt over her head, she was so...gone.

"Come on, sweetheart..." I muttered through gritted teeth into her hair. My head spun as I stood up. Took a deep breath. I leant down and wrapped an arm under hers, picking her up. I slipped another arm under her legs quickly, leaning back against the tree with a groan.

How much blood, how much blood, how much blood did I lose...

My hips make a soft crack as I take a step, and it hurts so bad I have to muffle the cry into the girl's hair again.

I can't make too much noise, what if that that thing comes back? Whatever it was.

_God, God, God._

Step,_crack_, step, _crack_, step, _crack_... On and on.

My house comes into view, and I breathe in hard, seeing the steps that lead to the front porch. I can't go up those with her, I can't. I stop in front of the steps and put her down, slowly, and discover that bending over just makes things worse. My hands shake as I reach for my phone again.

LOW BATTERY. LOW BATTERY.

The sign flashes when I try to press a button.

"COME ON," I yell in frustration.

I look down at the girl and throw the phone down, put my head in my hands. Take a deep breath, and put my leg on the first step. Pull up!

I fall and fortunately my hands save me from another bruise. I climb up the steps, straighten up, stumble to the front door and I fish out my keys, unlocking the door.

The interior greets me, and I switch on the light, turning to the girl. I get down, grab her under the arms and pull her up, inside, onto the hallway floor. _Bathroom_. There's so much blood, I can't see how bad she is...

I push the shirt up, checking the awful gash on her stomach, and my breath comes out in a hiss. It's not there anymore! I put my hands over my face. I can't have imagined it- there's blood all over her! It's her blood, it's her blood, she was injured! But it's not there anymore, her skin is smooth and untouched. No bruises. Nothing. Just filthy with blood and forest dirt. My hands draw back, shivering with disbelief.

Strength leaves me and I lie down next to her, my head spinning again. I don't understand. I just don't understand. This is a nightmare.

My right hip.

I can't feel my legs.

I close my eyes and fall into darkness.

**LPOV**

When I come to, I rub my head and my body quickly leaps to a corner in a crouch, taking in my surroundings.

The leech is dead. I saw him turn to ash before I lost consciousness.

_Freaking vamps with their stupid super strength._

My head was killing me but my other wounds had already healed. As I looked myself over, I realised I was wearing a shirt that didn't belong to me.

I looked around again and that's when I see him.

Library boy is lying in a heap near the front door of a house I don't recognize.

I leapt to my feet and run to him. His heartbeat is weak but it's still there and he's breathing.

_Thank everything holy ... he's still alive. _

I run through the house to look for a phone. I find one and quickly dial 9-1-1. I tell the operator the house number and then feel like an idiot because I have no idea what street I'm on or what neighborhood I'm in. I know what trees I'm near, but somehow I doubt telling the dispatcher that I'm near the tall half burnt oak in Forks woods is going to be any help to her. She assures me she can locate me through the phone line and asks me to stay on the line until the ambulance arrives.

I agree, knowingly lying to the helpful police personnel, and take the phone back to library boy who is slowly fading away at my feet. The dispatcher asks me questions ... Is he breathing? yes ... Has he vomited? yes ... Can I turn him onto his side? yes ... Where are his injuries? Is he still bleeding? Do I know his name?

I answer her questions, searching through his wallet for ID. There in the front pocket is his library card, worn from use.

Austin. Austin Marks.

I feel the tears streaming down my cheeks and I don't know what they mean. I don't know why I suddenly care what happens to this human but I find myself humming softly and caressing his face. I decide I'll wait until I hear the sirens and then get up to leave. I gently carry him out onto the front porch to keep watch.

But then I can't make myself go.

I look down at his broken, bleeding body and I want to stay. I want to make sure he's alright. I need ...

I run back into the house, searching frantically for a pen and paper.

_This is stupid. This is stupid, Leah. What are you doing?_

I know I should just leave and let the humans to take care of this but I just can't. I find a sharpie marker and no paper. I run back outside. I can now see the ambulance lights shining through the darkness. They're almost here.

I look down at my library boy and see his card. I grab it and turn it over, scribbling my name and number on the back. I kiss his forehead and run my fingers through his hair one last time before standing and running to the trees. I watch as the EMT's run to his side, checking his injuries, and then loading him onto a stretcher. I stay until he's in the back of the ambulance and they're driving away.

I phase back to wolf and run home ... to my house and my phone, where I'll pray and worry until I hear it ring ... until I hear his voice again.


End file.
